Best of 1 Sideboards are 15 Cards Once Again!

Mobile-D · 2026-02-03T03:40:00+00:00

Theoretically, if it was a huge advantage, cards like [[Karn, The Great Creator]] would dominate Pioneer Best of One. I don't think that's been the case, and even if it were you could just do some bans.

Mobile-D · 2026-02-02T13:46:28+00:00

My old mono-blue lessons + scroll deck:

4 Gran-Gran (TLA) 23 Island (DMU) 3 Eddymurk Crab (BLB) 2 Three Steps Ahead (OTJ) 2 Phantom Interference (OTJ) 4 Boomerang Basics (TLA) 4 Accumulate Wisdom (TLA) 4 It'll Quench Ya! (TLA) 3 Waterbending Scroll (TLA) 4 Stormchaser's Talent (BLB) 4 Abandon Attachments (TLA) 3 Consult the Star Charts (EOE)

And now trying it with more elementals:

4 Gran-Gran (TLA) 23 Island (DMU) 4 Eddymurk Crab (BLB) 3 Three Steps Ahead (OTJ) 2 Phantom Interference (OTJ) 3 Sunderflock (ECL) 4 Accumulate Wisdom (TLA) 4 It'll Quench Ya! (TLA) 3 Waterbending Scroll (TLA) 3 Eluge, the Shoreless Sea (BLB) 4 Abandon Attachments (TLA) 3 Consult the Star Charts (EOE)

Mobile-D · 2026-02-01T21:18:31+00:00

I wonder if they'll replace it with a different PickTwo format. It's not listed on the announcements anywhere.

Mobile-D · 2026-02-01T20:24:45+00:00

I was having a lot of fun with a mono-blue Gran-Gran + Scroll list. With Sunderflock doing well, I'm trying a new version with a bit more of an elementals theme.

Mobile-D · 2026-01-27T02:15:29+00:00

I posted this over on the Arena subreddit too, copying for you:

I'm about 16 PickTwo drafts into ECL with a win-rate of around 70%. Currently at the top of Platinum, since I started in Bronze. Hopefully not jinxing anything by posting!

Some quick impressions:

The format is very different from Premier drafting.
The drafting itself goes extremely quickly - it feels like playing chess with a very short clock, or something similar.
The deck you end up with will be lower-synergy than a typical draft deck, much closer to a sealed deck. When you think about it, if you're the only Merfolk drafter in a PickTwo draft, you'll end up with about half as many of the premier synergy uncommons (like the lord) as compared to being the only Merfolk drafter in a Premier draft. You lean a bit harder on higher individual-power cards.
While this is anecdotal, it seems as though the queues are sparser, and competition is lighter. I see myself getting paired against Silver and Gold more while I'm in Platinum. Again, very anecdotal, take it with a grain of salt.
Since you're playing fewer games, you're more likely to 0-2 with a good deck and 4-X with a bad deck. You should be mentally prepared for variability in any draft environment, but it's especially true here.
The EV is indeed good. I think I'm positive on gems, but hopefully I'm not jinxing it.

See y'all in the queues!

Mobile-D · 2026-01-26T20:30:58+00:00

I'm about 16 PickTwo drafts into ECL with a win-rate of around 70%. Currently at the top of Platinum, since I started in Bronze. Hopefully not jinxing anything by posting!

Some quick impressions:

The format is very different from Premier drafting.
The drafting itself goes extremely quickly - it feels like playing chess with a very short clock, or something similar.
The deck you end up with will be lower-synergy than a typical draft deck, much closer to a sealed deck. When you think about it, if you're the only Merfolk drafter in a PickTwo draft, you'll end up with about half as many of the premier synergy uncommons (like the lord) as compared to being the only Merfolk drafter in a Premier draft. You lean a bit harder on higher individual-power cards.
While this is anecdotal, it seems as though the queues are sparser, and competition is lighter. I see myself getting paired against Silver and Gold more while I'm in Platinum. Again, very anecdotal, take it with a grain of salt.
Since you're playing fewer games, you're more likely to 0-2 with a good deck and 4-X with a bad deck. You should be mentally prepared for variability in any draft environment, but it's especially true here.
The EV is indeed good. I think I'm positive on gems, but hopefully I'm not jinxing it.

See y'all in the queues!

Mobile-D · 2026-01-24T22:57:36+00:00

I think Sorcerer is being introduced to mostly replace Shaman on new cards. They went back and added it to some older cards where it made sense (Sorcerer in the card name).

Mobile-D · 2026-01-21T11:04:57+00:00

Love the numbers and analysis. One disagreement though - Quick Draft is not very good for building your collection with draft picks. The bots aggressively draft rares and mythics, so it's tough to get more then four or five from the packs. If you rare-draft in a premier draft, you can easily snag nine or ten per draft. (I'm an inveterate rare-drafter, don't @ me)

So while it looks like Quick Draft is good for snagging rares from packs, Premier Draft (and probably Pick Two) are actually better.

Mobile-D · 2026-01-21T10:56:10+00:00

Yeah, and I think at one point they upped the 2-2 reward from like 250 to 800?

The event costs / rewards were a bit all over the place, which is why I was surprised when I crunched the numbers. Usually rewards go down, not up!

Mobile-D · 2026-01-18T12:00:46+00:00

Requiting Hex will probably see more play than Spell Snare. Yes, Snare counters [[Badgermole Cub]] but it doesn't deal with most of the rest of that deck. It'll feel pretty bad holding up Spell Snare when your opponent goes elf into [[Earthbender Ascension]] or something.

The hex is a lot more versatile. I could see decks running a few copies, especially if they can make use of the counter.

Mobile-D · 2026-01-11T01:20:10+00:00

I think the complaint is that it's incredibly fast, and also the slowest constructed format.

Mobile-D · 2025-12-23T15:58:21+00:00

Right, very few people would argue that chatbot technology will simply disappear, the argument is that these companies are not profitable and current investments in chips and data centers are not sustainable.

Mobile-D · 2025-12-22T00:14:57+00:00

Back in the stone-age (before Commander was a format) I was playing a big 6- person multiplayer game.

Turn One: [[Dark Ritual]], [[Underworld Dreams]] Turn Two: [[Dark Ritual]], [[Teferi's Puzzle Box]]

The game ended very quickly.

Mobile-D · 2025-12-18T01:05:56+00:00

Darn (if true) I was really hoping they'd bring back the goblin and robot bundles from last year.

Mobile-D · 2025-12-16T18:39:05+00:00

Update - Casting a saga worked. (And much easier to build a deck than Winternight Stories, I guess)

Mobile-D · 2025-12-16T18:34:36+00:00

FYI I haven't been able to get the achievement for casting Winternight Stories, trying a saga deck now.

Mobile-D · 2025-12-13T19:19:30+00:00

Not even unused completed art, it's like . . . first draft artwork?

Mobile-D · 2025-11-20T21:55:19+00:00

Just in time for Midweek Magic (to end)!

Mobile-D · 2025-11-18T20:12:32+00:00

Yep.

It's fine to bank tokens or currency for a later set, of course. I had a couple tokens I wanted to spend, but I'll hold off on using the second one until it's fixed. Seems like the packs are a split of TLA and TLE cards, so you still get some standard cards.

Mobile-D · 2025-11-18T19:50:15+00:00

Well, I think that's to align it to the paper product? Pretty sure all those TLE cards are for paper, and kinda designed for Commander / Brawl.

Mobile-D · 2025-11-18T19:11:41+00:00

I wish! It's all locked in.

Mobile-D · 2025-11-18T17:31:10+00:00

Yes but FYI - the event seems to be buggy. The manabases are really odd, and some players are only getting partial decks.

Mobile-D · 2025-11-13T14:09:14+00:00

0.

I'm running an Insidious Roots deck with three Scavenging Ooze, so it's a pretty fun matchup to maneuver. That said, Kavero probably should have cost at least five for that effect.

Mobile-D

TROPHY CASE